The birth of a white-tailed sea eagle chick – a species once extinct in Ireland – has been announced at Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork.Management say they are “delighted” with the birth of the chick in what has been an important year for endangered native species conservation at the park. This includes the successful headstarting of curlews for release into the wild, the ongoing population augmentation programme for the natterjack toad and the captive breeding of white-clawed crayfish.The white-tailed sea eagle chick was born on April 13th to the resident breeding pair, Áine and Tony, and through their “attentive parenting” the chick has successfully fledged. The white-tailed sea eagle is the largest eagle species in Europe, with a wingspan stretching up to 2.5m. They were once a common sight along the Irish coastline but became extinct here in the 19th century due to human intervention.They are now a red-listed species and are of high conservation concern. Since 2007, the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research and local farmers and communities, has released over two hundred white-tailed sea eagles at sites in Ireland. The programme has been so successful that the population is now self-sustaining. Fota Wildlife Park has been part of the white-tailed sea eagle recovery programme since 1991, breeding six chicks, including the one, in support of specialised conservation efforts.Meanwhile, it has been a busy summer for staff at Fota who have welcomed several new arrivals.On June 15th a critically endangered female Nubian giraffe calf was born. The calf stood almost 2m-tall at birth following a gestation period of 15 months. Three endangered Asiatic lion cubs were born on July 1st. The animal is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and survives today only in wild population in India’s Gir Forest. The last recording of the wild population was 891 individuals in 2025.